My Childhood

I do not remember my childhood to a tee. Maybe I am aging! I doubt most people can! So many random thoughts. Maybe only I can comprehend them. One of my earliest memories was when I was very young, I would have been less than 6 years old. We came home one day and there was a dead black dog. It was our dog. I do not remember this dog. But, do recall being sad. I then recall going with my Father to a neighbor’s place and getting Trinket. A large Black Lab and Golden Retriever mix. She was amazing. She loved me. I loved her. I do remember her dancing on her back legs with me. I reminisce, even after leaving the farm, running down the gravel road calling out to Trinket, "come to Momma," and she would be dragging her old ass up the hill to see me and we would then embrace. Besides Trinket, I call to mind 4 kittens. One for each of us Siblings. I had Night. Jason, the brother 2 years younger than me, had Sleepy. Michelle, 3 years younger than me, had Cougar. Cody, 4.5 years younger than me, had Blacky, I think. Night did not last too long. We were coming home from town and Mom received a call from my Uncle. I could not quite comprehend the call as I was situated in the back of the vehicle. But I knew something bad had happened. My Night was run over. Sleepy was the only cat that lived her full life. She was a great hunter. An awesome cat that lived through 4 moves!

Another fairly early memory I have is of me wearing a dress. Well, I do not physically remember having this dress on but there are pictures. If you know me, yes SHOCKER! As after that moment my dress wearing days were done until I graduated High School. But, actually, the memory is of me being a flower girl. If I recall it was my cousin's 1st marriage. I was a flower girl with another little girl. I remember us walking with the ring bearer. I faintly remember being smitten with him.

I remember random things at home before my preteen years. Playing games such as Monopoly and Risk as a family. Watching cartoons Saturday mornings. I remember playing barbies with my little sister, Michelle. I remember at home me and my brother Jason would wear ball gloves and throw balls at each other. Being pretended to be goalies; certain NHL goaltenders at the time. I remember and know we, as kids, spent a lot of time outside. I remember having water gun fights. One time, my cousin babysat us and I slipped on a wet deck stair and scratched my back fairly bad.

I remember baseball in the yard with my family. Usually boys versus girls. There was a time, I recall, when just Jason and I were playing ball. We were using a harder ball; maybe a baseball and then this large red plastic bat. I was up to bat. My brother pitched the ball. I slammed it!! We were like holy crap! I lost the ball. Did not even see it- was too great of a hit; home run. Jason and I searched for that ball for what seemed like forever. In the lawn, in the garden, in the shelterbelt. Holy crap I must have hit it over the trees into the field. Finally we gave up. Got a different ball. I picked the bat up and bingo - the ball was in the bat. Oh the uproar we had. We thought I hit it so hard it was awesome but nope, I hit it so hard it broke and stuck in the end of the bat. I was fairly proud of myself. I remember riding our trikes and bikes and rollerblades on our large cement pad. I remember riding my bike around the yard and down to the farm. But one time riding to the farm, which was downhill, I pedaled too fast and lost control. I scraped my knees and arms up good. I walked home in pain, crying. Mom cleaned me up. I remember our playground in the southeast corner of our large yard. We had a sand pile as well. I remember eating sand once in a while. It tasted good. I remember our trampoline. It was fun in the 90s as you didn’t have the net on it. We jumped, we played dodgeball, and we slipped and slid on it using dish soap as our aid and our enemy. I remember getting to cut our lawn at a young age with a drive on mower. I remember one time my mom was cutting grass and she drove over a family of white mice. I said "Mom, a mouse!" She was close to a heart attack.

In the winters I think back on learning to skate in the ditch. Playing hockey on the dugout. I also remember tobogganing down the hill on the farm. We tobogganed down and my Parents/Uncles would pull us back up with sleds! I remember some winters we had so much snow in the yard we were able to dig tunnels in the snow to play in. We had fun in our yard but we had the whole farm as our playground! Bales to crawl in and around. Lots of open area to run and bike. A monstrous treehouse that my older cousins built and I got to play in. Many levels and many rooms. I remember doing farm wide Easter egg hunts. All us cousins looked for clues and our baskets. My grandma and grandpa lived next door to us so we of course spent a lot of time there. I remember sewing at Grandmas. I did some fancy sewing work on little handkerchiefs and what not. I remember family get-togethers. Some at Grandmas, some at my Aunts. At Christmas I do remember someone, usually my uncle, dressing as Santa Clause. After we ate and did dishes (or had to pee to avoid dishes!) we would watch a movie or play card games with or without the adults. If we were at my Grandparents we would play hide and seek in their large 3 story home with attached garage. Or play floor hockey in the basement. Or darts. I recall eating watermelon on their deck a lot. Watermelon with seeds. So we spit them out playing games such as spitting at each other or of course whose seed can go the furthest. The roof of my Grandpa's deck was also slightly slanted so we would throw balls up and try to be the first to catch it before it hit the deck floor. I remember these wind ornaments on that deck that our Grandpa would make. Characters like Garfield had their legs spin if it was windy! I remember wooden flowers my grandpa would carve and paint as well. I remember catching frogs at Grandmas and playing (hence torturing) them and putting them in and out of the birdbaths. I remember 'stealing' peas and strawberries and raspberries from Grandma's huge garden. She knew, but we thought we were mischievous.

I remember one time while Grandma and Grandpa were away, Jason and I went to do the 'check' on their house. When we left, Jason and I wanted a cookie. Grandma made/makes the best gingerbread cookies. So we each grabbed one and were eating it and left through the heavy garage door. I pulled the garage door too quickly and Jason’s finger, thumb I think, was slammed. I bet it hurt. He would not stop crying. He wanted mom. I yelled at him that no he NEEDS to finish chewing and swallow the damn cookie!! He got home before he could swallow that cookie. I tried to lie myself out of it. But, busted. When Grandma and Grandpa got home we had to go tell them what happened and apologize. Worst part is, if we told the truth Grandma would not have cared anyway! She kept cookies in the cookie jar for a reason!

I remember family things with my cousins that happened outside of the farm as well. Like for our birthdays, I recall trips to Lloydminster. Grandma would take us cousins as all of us were fairly close in age. We got to all go eat at McDonalds and then go to Bud Miller Park, the indoor wave pool. I hung out with my cousins a lot, we had 6 cousins on the farm; all a bit older than me except one. I remember as a young teen going to Galaxyland. First time and one of the last times on the big rollercoaster was with my cousin who was a couple years my senior. It was scary and I could not go on much as made me feel sick to my stomach. I remember other times at Galaxyland, well named Fantasyland when I was a kid. My Mother and Father took us on weekend trips into the city. I remember falling asleep on the trip up so the ride flew by and waking just minutes from the city. Getting to see and be in awe of the big city lights. I remember on these trips looking out the hotel windows staring at the lights of the buildings, signs, and traffic. I enjoyed that. I remember walking West Edmonton Mall and one time my youngest brother, Cody, fell into this little area that had a ceramic whale surrounded by water. I was upset as it meant he got a whole new outfit since he was soaked. I remember not having to wear seatbelts all the time.

Also, there was this road we always took when we had to go to our nearest city. It was very curvy and hilly. As a child it felt like a roller coaster. I recall sitting on our knees on the seat of the vehicle and telling my Dad to floor it. It honestly felt like we got air. Whether we did or not, who knows!

I went to Village of Chauvin, Dr. Folkins school, for all of elementary. I attended preschool periodically. Then Dr. Folkins from kindergarten to Grade 6. I remember Chauvin school; even the layout is somewhat vivid in my mind. One of my earliest school memories was in either Kindergarten or Grade 1 when our class went on a field trip to OUR farm. I remember being the star child, although my cousin was in my class too, who got to show my classmates how to milk a cow. And then remember having those mini Dixie cups of ice cream with wooden spoons. I look back thinking of our horrible bus driver for many years. He was nice, yes, but sped, and even drove around the railroad crossing sticks when they were down. I remember Christmas concerts at Chauvin school. We rehearsed them well. We all sat in a row on chairs against the wall waiting for our turn. We sang all the classics. I remember birthday parties. I remember at the one party my mom came to pick me up. She called down the stairs; Pooh Bear!! My friends, all male, did not know that was what she frequently called me. A little embarrassing! I remember a few birthday parties at my house. My best friend and teammates were the usual gang. I remember in elementary days playing soccer at recess. Hanging upside down on the monkey bars. Teeter tottering with my best Friend Cassandra.

Cassandra and I hung out a lot when I was not busy with hockey. I remember walking around the village. We would walk down the middle of the road. Played at the playground. Had sleepovers. I also look back on other sleepovers. I remember sleeping over at Doug’s house, another friend of mine, when I needed someone to take me due to hockey. We would watch hockey games with his Dad as well in their living room. I faintly remember having an 'accident' while asleep in the top bunk above Doug's sister. I remember embarrassment. I also recall either one spring or fall, Doug and I raking leaves for some senior woman for a fundraiser for our hockey team. And her inviting us in for tea and cookies. Neither of us really wanted to, but to be polite....we did. I faintly recall a sleepover at Andreas. Probably my 2nd or 3rd closest female friend. Do not remember much about it but it was more girly as Andrea only had sisters! Not sure if I slept over at my best male friend's house until after we moved from Chauvin in Grade 7. I remember I slept with his sister in her room. I remember us playing basketball.

Hockey was, of course, a huge part of my childhood. Played with Chauvin but every other year once we got older we had a Chauvin/Edgerton mixed team. I was the only girl on the team most years. It was during these years I stayed at my Granny B's place as she literally lived right behind the rink! But at age 14 my friend's Dad from Hardisty started a Midget girls team. Hockey, being a physical sport, is where my only real injury of childhood occurred. A broken wrist. But that was the only time I took the brunt of it. During a game, when I was around 11 years old, I broke a kids leg. We slid into the end boards together and well I was bigger than most boys at that age!! My 'brutality' against others did not seem to end there. I never really meant to hurt others but caused other injuries that I was blamed for! I do not really think the injury to my youngest brother was my fault, but it was at MY game. I was on the ice. My youngest brother was running up and down the bleachers. He fell. Received stitches in his head. Then another time I taught my brother Jason that it was fun to spin around in circles really fast. It was cool to feel really dizzy. Jason was not too good at the spinning in the sense that he did not handle it well. He fell and gouged out a piece of his head. However, my Mom and Grandma decided it did not warrant stitches. I remember screwing around and singing in the shower with my sister. She was showering and I was standing on the toilet peeking in over the curtain. Then I leaned in a little too far. The curtain rod fell when I slipped. She received stitches above her eye. And another, I recall is a time I was sent to my room. In trouble for something. I coaxed my brother to come play with me while I was in there. We broke a light while bouncing a ball back and forth to each other. He crawled to the bathroom screaming. I yelled at Mom that there was so much blood. I remember Mom yelling back to get back into my room. Ended up with my Brother getting his ankle stitched. I am sure I injured my siblings more; these are just the ones I recall. I guess they were always in my way and in the wrong place at the wrong time!

On another note, I look back to when I was in my early teens my sister and I would stay with my Mom's parents. We would rent WrestleMania and I would cheer on Hulk Hogan! We ate so much crap and stayed up late. Then those Grandparents divorced and I remember spending time with just my Grandpa; once again eating crap and watching movies. I moved to a new school in grade 7 in the Town of Hardisty. That was not fun. The beginning of Jr High is not fun anywhere, especially when you are the new kid. I ended up making some friends but remember being teased. I was the new kid; the outcast. I used to be cool. Popular. Although, a couple months in I befriended a classmate who was my, just across the back alley, neighbor. She was an important friend as was one of the more popular kids and made me feel welcome. I then began to become close to another girl who ended up being one of my closest friends in High School. In grade 8 I also befriended a future teammate who stayed such throughout Junior high, high school, and into college. We were the pair that frequently got kicked out of Mr. K's Science class for screwing around. What good did that do? We screwed around in the hallway! I remember the acreage we moved to near Lougheed the summer before High School. I remember all the hard work I put in helping run the acreage. I remember one time when my parents were away I went outside as our dog, Stripe, was barking and barking. There stood a wolf. It was much too large and beautiful to be a coyote. So I swear to this day it was a wolf. It was not that uncommon to see a wolf, bear, or cougar close to the ravine on occasion. I ran in the house to call my neighbor so he could come over with a gun in case the wolf started to attack my dog or horses or pigs. But the wolf must not have been interested and disappeared on her own. I remember building the garage at our acreage. When we were doing the roof and putting up the rafters on the double wide garage I was the one on the ladder to steady the middle. But the one time the rafter fell and very luckily my head passed through a triangular part as those rafters were very heavy.

I remember tobogganing and GTing down the hill in the back of the yard. We made a jump for the GT and would come crashing down on it. One time my foot twisted and got stuck under the ski as I landed. Good thing I had strong ankles! I remember plowing trees to make a lane way into our land. I remember helping my Step dad fix up old trucks. He redid the interior and engines in them and painted them. I never did most of the work but was the helper. Had a 1979 home painted mustang for my first car but it had a turbo and was a 4 speed and I just could not get the hang of it. So my actual first car I ended up driving for a few years was a 1989 Grey Mustang. V6. 5 speed. I was able to drive a standard and just could not comprehend the 4 speed for some reason! I did everything on that car myself for the most part, changed my own tires, my own oil. I emptied and refilled my radiator fluid as I just used water in the summer if I recall. Even could work with the starter and alternator as I replaced them before. When I needed help my Step Father helped and showed me. It was on that acreage that I bought a horse. A mare I named Pacey. Great horse with horrible hooves. Because of his hooves he was not ridden much, but when he was he was very well behaved. I did ride another horse we had one time, Fidget. Fidget bucked me off basically right away - I even passed out. I remember my step dad taking me into the house and laying me on the couch.

Then came High School and I switched schools again. But not due to our geographical move that summer, but because all surrounding towns went to Central High Public School in Sedgewick. I was neither popular nor unpopular there. I was satisfied talking or being with the ‘cool’ kids just as much as the ‘not-so-cool’ kids. I was not a huge fan of High School though. Who is? I remember skipping classes and just staying home because I could. At times we would skip class to head downtown and grab ice cream or other treats and just sit on a green hill and gab and flick heads of dandelions or play grass music. We would find the fattest blades of grass and blow on them to make a whistling sound. In High School so many kids loved just driving down the streets of Sedgewick. I was never much of a cruiser in high school though. I drove enough for school and work that I did not care to just cruise. Once in a while I would cruise with the more 'athletic, popular kids' but was not that into it. Speaking of athletic, yes, I was, but not at any school sports. Just hockey. Periodically softball or baseball. And that meant a different kind of athlete. I was not even that much of a Physical Ed person. I only took as much gym class that was needed to graduate. I loved being active, but outside of school. I did, however, start becoming intrigued in the sciences. Biology class became a favorite. Although I seemed to enjoy Finance and History as well. I did like physics but probably only because my physics teacher was hot! Then, High school ended. I graduated in 2001. I had to grow up......some. I moved to Camrose to attend college.